Growing
by Kavi Leighanna
Summary: Follows Terminal Leave 'You're learning'
1. Grown Up

**Grown Up**

**Summary: **Follows the "you're learning" scene of "Terminal Leave". What happens when Kate gets a break from babysitting

**Pairing:** Gibbs/Kate

**Disclaimer:** Very much not mine, no characters, just the idea of the continuation.

**Author's Note:** I was sort of disappointed in the loss of any sort of scene, either Kibbs or Tate but we can all dream, right?

* * *

_"You're learning."_

The words haunted her as she made her way back to the office, more than ready for the break that McGee was providing her. She didn't like this case, not one bit. Not because she disliked the family – sure they were a bit dysfunctional, but not without reason – but because she was losing sleep and she was losing her patience. What she didn't expect when she got back was Gibbs, seating in his office chair, staring blankly at her desk.

"Gibbs?"

-

He didn't know why he told her that. True, he was as proud as hell of her and her instincts. She didn't like the FBI any more than he did and she caught on quick. She was learning.

She was growing up.

He didn't know when he realized it, really, didn't know when he really noticed that she'd changed. For better or worse, he had yet to decide. He admired the progress she'd made in the time she'd spent with them. He admired her work, he admired her spirit and he admired her determination. Basically, he admired her.

But he'd never tell her that.

Which is why he sat staring at her empty chair, thinking about the brunette agent that was off doing goodness knows what protecting a family. He was about to get up, about ready to pull her out when he stopped himself.

Actually, she stopped him.

"Gibbs?"

-

He'd looked like he was ready to get up, ready to leave, and she belatedly berated herself for the stupidity of the move. If he was about to leave, why should she stop him? It wasn't like he got enough sleep as it was. That agent was really getting to him.

"Are you on your way out?" He met her eyes, though only briefly, dragging his eyes down her body and making her shiver with emotions she had effectively suppressed for the many months she'd been working at NCIS. It wasn't something she could do, break one of his rules, and until that moment, she had thought the same of him. In fact, she would have been the first to venture that the FBI agent was charmed by him.

In some twisted way.

-

He couldn't stop himself from looking her over from head to toe. Here she was, standing in front of him in one piece. He wouldn't tell her how relieved he was to see it, how he looked forward to seeing her come in the office every day. He said the first thing that came to his bewildered brain.

"Shouldn't you be at the house?" She rolled her eyes at him and he knew it was the wrong set of words to choose. He had long since come to terms with his tendency of foot in mouth disease that she seemed to bring out in him.

"McGee and Dinozzo are there. I know, lethal combination, but Gibbs, I'm exhausted and I have a killer migraine. I'm just going to go home and sleep. I'll be back at the house tomorrow, I promise," she rattled off to him. He glanced at his watch.

"Have you eaten?"

-

She was surprised by the question. Here he was, basically asking her to dinner, right after he'd bulleted her about not being at the house, protecting the targets. She blinked a couple of times.

"No. Why?"

"Neither have I."

"Is that your round about way of asking me to dinner, Gibbs? Because honestly? I don't have the patience to play games." He rewarded her impudence with a half grin.

-

She really was growing up. She had gotten to the point where she was blunt, straightforward with him. She had gotten to the point where she wasn't going to take any crap.

And he had to admit, he liked her like that.

"Yes."

-

Suddenly, the pressure in her brain lifted slightly. She hadn't realized how much he affected her, how much his mood turned her day good or bad, how a smile from him turned her world upside-down.

If this was a new beginning, she had to admit, she liked it.

"Sure."

* * *

Most likely will be another chapter to this with dinner… just have a whole bunch of things going at once. This one pretty much wrote itself after "Terminal Leave"

Kavi Leighanna


	2. Grown Out

**Grown Out**

**Summary: **Continuation of **Grown Up**. Dinner and revelations

**Pairing:** Ah, but you guessed already, didn't you?

**Disclaimer: **As with the last one, I don't own the characters you recognize. That would be violation of trademark! I will not subject myself to that!

**Author's Note:** Here it is because I needed to write it and because people asked for it.

* * *

He couldn't fathom what had possessed him to ask her to dinner, and quite frankly, he found he didn't care. What mattered was the down look of the woman in front of him. Yes, most people would call him a bastard, hell, he was sure she had on numerous occasions, just not to his face, but he _did_ have a heart. He cared about her.

Deeply.

It was something his brain and heart did not agree on, as normal. His brain knew better than to burden her with a sudden peeling back of the wall; his brain knew better than to be caring all of a sudden. His heart protested

Vehemently.

His brain controlled his impulses though and so he curbed the idea of asking too many questions, probing too deep. After all, they were having a rather nice conversation that he wasn't willing to give up yet. She seemed okay, almost happy, in the conversation and he didn't want to bring her back to what was making her so weary. But he had to.

Unfortunately.

"Kate? Are you okay?"

* * *

Ah, the sentence she'd been dreading. She and Gibbs had been getting along so well, so calmly, so not like co-workers. Her migraine had long since dissipated with the food and relaxed atmosphere she found herself in. She almost expected dinner with Gibbs to be a formal affair, watching what she said. It changed when they were out of NCIS. _He_ changed.

Beautifully.

She'd never known him to listen to anyone and was sure he was used to getting his way. Yet, he wasn't being like that here. In fact, it seemed like he'd dropped a bit of control. She found him doing that a lot more lately, dropping control, but only when she was there to pick it back up. He never asked for it back either, content to let her carry it and use it to her abilities. She did.

Fantastically.

The air in the office had changed once McGee had come on. That was about the time he started dropping control and she didn't mind. It showed that he could adapt though she was sure Tony couldn't see it and she'd be damned if McGee could. Abby… probably. She'd worked with Gibbs for what seemed like forever and Ducky would have been able to see it.

Fortunately.

It was nice, though, to have a little bit of leeway, not that she really used it. He trusted her more now, trusted her to get the job done in whatever way she could, using whatever means she had to. She enjoyed giving Tony menial jobs when she could and enjoyed even more the little ways he got back at her. They were a family, a dynamic that seemed to be staying with him as they sat.

Silently.

Then he spoke, asking her the one question she'd been dreading.

* * *

He watched her roll her eyes at him.

"Nuh uh, Kate. As your boss I need to know when my team members may not be up to snuff." He winced at his words. Damn that foot-in-mouth disease!

"It was just a migraine, Gibbs." He was surprised at her amused expression definitely not ready to deal with the lack of anger. She put her hand over her mouth to hide a grin.

"You thought I'd be angry? It's all you care about. I would have been surprised if you asked me legitimately if I was okay," she told him, then slapped her other hand over the first. She hadn't meant to let that much slip. It was her turn to wince at his raised eyebrow. What she didn't expect was the hurt that flashed across his face.

"Gibbs… I'm sorry that was –" She didn't get to finish. He stood abruptly and made to leave but she caught him. He tried to pull away, she kept his sleeve firmly in her fist.

"That was out of line," she told him when he met her gaze. He saw the guilt shining there and felt a wall crumble.

* * *

**_There's a second chapter. I have an idea for a third and I've written it (which should be an actually). If you want it, I'll put it up for you._**

****

**_Kavi Leighanna_**


	3. Completely Grown

**With Gibbs**

**Summary: **Final chapter in the **Growing** Series. What happened after dinner?

**Pairing:** Shouldn't have to tell you.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned them I'd be writing this in the show. Considering that it hadn't happened, I don't own them. Thanks for asking.

* * *

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He wasn't supposed to give in and she definitely wasn't supposed to encourage it. Then came the reminder that this wasn't a perfect world and time reasserted itself in the alarm that startled her awake on his chest. She looked up at him and jumped, slapping herself in the head. Quickly she turned her back, the back of her neck turning bright red. It wasn't her style, one night stands. 

Well, at least she could cross 'do the boss' off of her list.

She resisted the urge to run.

Barely.

* * *

He'd started berating himself as soon as she jumped. He shouldn't have stayed, he should have let her believe it might have been a dream or some trick of her tired mind. He still had to work with her. It wasn't his style, one night stands.

Now, it was too late. The words that came out of her mouth though, surprised him.

"This wasn't a mistake."

* * *

She made up her mind. She would tell him the feelings she harboured for the bastard in him, for the agent in him, for the protector in him, and for what she still needed to learn. She decided that it was now or never.

_Though,_ she decided, _he has ruined me for every other man out there._

She took a moment to remember his hands, how they'd played her body, an instrument an its musician, bringing her to her peak more than once. It was a feeling that wouldn't just go away, that wouldn't just let her be during lonely nights. Now that she knew, there was no forgetting what it felt like to lay in his arms, to allow herself to get lost in what was Jethro Gibbs.

"It wasn't?"

* * *

He knew he sounded like an idiot, hell, that was one of the stupidest questions he'd ever asked anyone in his life. He watched her shake her head, still not looking at him. After a moment, she squared her shoulders looking straight ahead.

"It wasn't a mistake."

He took a moment to think, really think, about where he was. He was lying on his back, in Caitlyn Todd's bed, she was sitting naked beside him, her flawless back open to his roaming gaze. Then he realized what the clenching in his stomach was at her statement. Hope reigned supreme in his chest as he fully took stock of his position and hers.

"It wasn't a mistake."

* * *

She spun to face him, her nakedness in the back of her mind at his admission. She blinked at him.

"What?" He sat up facing her. She didn't think he'd said what he did, she didn't expect what he'd said. She expected him to contradict her, for an argument to break out, for one of them to say something stupid to ruin any relationship they may have had. But he'd agreed with her.

"It wasn't a mistake, Katie," he repeated. She looked at him, really looked at him, and noticed a few things. In reality, she should have seen them before, the crow's feet, the long lines, the tiredness, but what had caught her eye, what had assured her that everything would be okay in the end, was the look in his eyes when they looked at her. Sure, she'd had men in her time, and sure some had stayed around longer than others, but with Jethro Gibbs, it was something completely different. With Gibbs, she ended up letting her guard down, whether she wanted to or not. With Gibbs, she ended up saying things she didn't mean to say.

Like that she was out of line.

She'd told him the truth, that's all, told him that she thought he was an insensitive bastard. Then he'd turned around and changed her perspective all together with one, hard, guilt-ridden look.

He knew he was a bastard.

She gave him credit for that and she cut him some slack. After all, being a member of the offending species, she could see how Gibbs would protect himself after three divorces. Not to mention the hell divorce was to go through. However, he needed to figure out when someone was different and wasn't going to intentionally hurt him. Yes, dating in the office generally wasn't a good thing, but at least that person knows what kind of a job you lead, that you may not be home because something came up in the office…

* * *

He watched her as she thought, could almost see walls crumbling around her heart and allowed himself a moment of hope. Maybe, just maybe, she'd seen past the bastard she accused him of being, past the insensitive boss and into the man who just wanted to hold her, who wanted to chase away all of her demons and the hell she'd been through.

He wanted to love her.

He'd spent the better part of her time at NCIS battling back that feeling. Love involved too many things that just weren't to be sacrificed doing the job that they were. With love came overprotective-ness, a feeling of sacrifice to make sure the other was safe. Those were feelings that you just couldn't give up. A threat was always around the corner, someone who committed a crime got out and maybe you were responsible for them being in there, maybe they would come after your family. After all, hadn't a mobster told him he'd break apart his family one by one? The relief that had washed through him at that moment, hidden behind sarcasm and the jab about three ex-wives and being more than willing to fax him any and all information, was a sensation he was ill-equipped to describe. He'd been glad she hadn't been part of his family, someone who, in someone else's eyes, was dispensable.

He'd sat there after the conversation just staring at her desk, knowing that she would be safe for a little while longer. She was safer without him loving her, he thought, but with the way things had turned out tonight, he wasn't so sure.

"Katie? What are you thinking about?"

* * *

She jolted at his words.

"You," she admitted, much faster than she would have liked. She heard and saw him sigh and braced herself for some sort of painful revelation.

"Kate, I want you to do me a favour." He paused and waited for her nod of agreement before continuing on.

"I need to tell you a few things…"

"Wait." He met her eyes, shock shining there. "Let me go first.

"I don't know what you did, Gibbs, I don't know when it started, but between you and I, there has always been a slight tension. Right now, I'm not so sure I can say I don't care what you think it might be, but I do know that, on my side, this isn't a professional tension and I know that after tonight I don't think that it will change. If anything, that tension is just going to grow. There's something that needs to be set straight. Maybe after tonight I'll have to transfer out of the DC office because of differences, but…" she trailed off, knowing she was ranting, and not sure if she was making much sense. He was about to speak, about to ask her what she wanted to say.

"God, Gibbs, I love you. That tension between us has had me wanting to jump your bones for a while and…" she was cut off by his lips. He kissed her hungrily, plunged her mouth for every taste he'd found at the beginning of this night. They pulled away, Kate less than coherent and Gibbs more than smug. When the fog receeded from her gaze and she met his uncertainly, he knew he had things to say to her too.

"I know exactly what you feel, Katie." She looked at him, if anything more uncertain and confused than she had been.

"I love you, Katie."

* * *

**_Let me tell you, like most of the other things about my last couple of stories (though this one is a sequel of Grown Out and Grown Up) it hasn't turned out the way I'd planned it to. My fingers tend to take on a mind of their own and the next thing I know something like this has popped out of nowhere. _**

**_I hope you're okay if this is the finale…_**

**_Kavi Leighanna _**


End file.
